In a paper on the calculation of the surface of the human brain, written in collaboration with Kraus and Da vison,1 it was stated that the weight and volume of the brain undergo a considerable diminution or shrinkage during the successive stages of dehydration and embedding. While the loss in weight and volume may be directly determined, an exact method could not be found by which the loss of cortical surface may be calculated.
In order to obtain an approximate estimation of this factor, the following formula was applied: The human cerebrum as a whole resembles a globe, and its visible surface may be identified with that of a globe. The surface (S), which is not known may be calculated from the volume (V) as follows:
The amount of shrinkage is found by deducting the value for the surface of the brain, after it has passed through the alcohol-ether